This invention is directed to a system and method for rerouting of document processing jobs. More particularly, this invention is directed to a system and method which allows a user to perform document processing operations on any of the available document processing devices.
Typically, when a user desires to generate an electronic document, the user transmits the electronic document to a document processing device wherein the document is placed into a job queue. Most current document processing systems require the user to select a specific document processing device at the time of job submission. One issue with such systems is that the user must have the routing information for the designated device and know where the device is physically located. Another issue is if the document processing device is malfunctioning, the user may still be able to submit jobs to the device, but the device will not process any jobs until the device is again operational. Further, the selected device may be busy processing prior jobs. The user will then have to wait for the prior jobs to be processed before the user's job is processed. In order to avoid such problems, many current document processing systems will search the network for other document processing devices that can handle the jobs and inform the user of an available device or devices. The document processing system may then either automatically route the job to an available device or require the user to re-route the job. However, the available device may be physically located far from the user or the user may not know the location of the device. As such, there is a need for a document processing system and method which allows a user to submit a document processing job via the network, such that the job will be processed by selected available devices, thereby relieving the user of designating a specific device. There is also a need for a document processing system and method wherein the user may retrieve the job from any device associated with the system or network.
The subject application overcomes the above noted problems and provides a system and method for rerouting of document processing jobs.